A £136m youth volunteering drive is today relaunching in a bid to get more young people in England involved in charity work. The organisation V was set up two years ago with the aim of getting a million young people to give up some of their free time - but it has been accused of failing to boost volunteering figures. V’s own research revealed the majority of young people (66% of those questioned) find the term “volunteering” off-putting – and 21% suggested volunteering had a boring image. V’s new campaign, Favours, aims to transform the way 16- to 25-year-olds in England perceive volunteering. Favours is so-called because in the V survey, 80% of young people said they had done a favour for someone outside their family and friends.
Terry Ryall, the V chief executive, explained: “We think volunteering is as simple as doing someone a favour.” The purpose of Favours, says Ryall, is to “surprise, shock, excite and engage” young people with schemes they normally “wouldn’t expect” from a volunteering body. “We want to show people volunteering is interesting, relevant, credible and has innovative opportunities in the areas they are passionate about” says Ryall. V needed to “start talking to the 16-25 age group in a way that resonates with them”. Despite the survey’s findings, says Ryall, “there is a growing appetite for volunteering”. The organisation, she adds, now wants to turn this interest into “actual activity by making the offering so compelling young people can’t resist it”.

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29 September 2008
© Volunteering Merseyside